InvestmentNews reported on January 29, 2015 that Girard Securities, Inc. is going to be audited by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and has requested what the Girard Securities Chairman and Chief Executive characterized as a massive request for data. As InvestmentNews reported, the request is not routine, and instead concerns…
Broker-dealers may be held liable to brokers who they threatened, misled, and/or lied to about the features and relative safety of an investment sold to their customers. The stockbroker and broker-dealer relationship can be characterized as one of agent-principal, respectively. While many understand that an agent has a duty to…
It is no secret on Wall Street today of what is happening in Puerto Rico in connection with the devastation of the UBS Puerto Rican Closed End Bond Funds. For many on the island and others in the 50 states, it is a whopper of a problem. Any time there…
Various news sources, including the New York Post, the Wall Street Journal and CNBC reported on January 22, 2015 that Owen Li, the manager of Canarsie Capital, published a letter to investors apologizing for the almost complete loss of money, stating he was “truly sorry.” According to the Wall Street…
A memo drafted by Jason Furman, one of President Obama’s top economic advisors, entitled “Draft Conflict of Interest Rule for Retirement Savings” was reportedly obtained by Bloomberg News. The memo cites research that says investors may lose between $8 billion and $17 billion per year as a result of stockbroker/financial…
Investors in Diversified Lending Group Inc., allegedly solicited by Tony Russon and other agents who worked under him at Russon Financial Services, may be able to sue Metropolitan Life Insurance Company in FINRA Arbitration after their California class action failed to obtain certification. In Los Angeles this past week, a…
The financial industry is one built on commissions on the sales side and bonuses in the back office. While sales staff can often readily determine where they fall on the commission scale to determine their net payout, non-sales personnel do not typically have that luxury. Non-sales employees such as product…
The North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA), an organization comprised of State securities regulators, recently issued an Investor Alert regarding self-directed IRAs and the third-party custodians who service those accounts. In fact, the term “custodian” may be a misnomer, because generally the third-party custodian does not custody any property, and…
As oil prices have continued to plummet and commuters across the country have regaled the resulting savings at the pump, investors in oil and gas related stocks, ETFs and master limited partnerships have been shocked by the crushing losses on their brokerage account statements. With interest rates near all-time lows,…
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has announced that Merrill Lynch has been fined $1.9 million and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $540,000 for fair pricing violations as well as supervisory violations related to the purchase of certain distressed securities. According to FINRA, more than 700 transactions…